The End of One Thing, The Beginning of Another
by Lord Pyrus
Summary: A Fireteam is sent to scout, and if possible, dispose of any Vex seen. What happens is very different than what was supposed to occur. ON HIATUS
1. The Spire

All characters, places, terms, etc. belong to Bungie, Activision, and so forth. If you guys want to add your two cents, or suggest any plot twists, please PM me and let me know! Let the flame of the Stars burn, Guardians!

More will come soon!

Light in the Vault

Chpt 1

Pyrus's POV

"Well, here we are friends. The famous Vault." A Hunter's statement broke the tense silence the team was having.

It came out of his comrade Kai's mouth. "Ah, Kai, keep a calm wit about you. We're here for Intel, and possibly to take out some Vex if we can." The Sunsinger replied. Before the casual remark the Warlock had been fiddling with his Suros AR-41's clip.

 _And hopefully we all make it back to the City._ The Ginger-haired Warlock thought. T _his is my first time leading. I don't want to report to Ikora that I lost one._

The Warlock had taken charge before, leading wasn't unnatural to him. The issue was is that he took the lead if something went wrong, someone died, or was incapacitated and the such.

Now, it was his fault if something bad happened.

Kai pouted through her helmet. "But missions are supposed to be fun!" The Hunter complained, getting out her LDR-5000, tinkering with the scope. The other Hunter in the group, Sterling, shrugged in agreement. The Hunter rarely spoke, even this is unusual.

Hearing that from his friend cleared his mood. Nothing would happen, this is simply recon. He opened his mouth to make a sarcastic comment, but then Loran spoke up. "Once you two finish flirting, we have a Vault to crack."

The Warlock went red. "Oh shut up, Knucklehead."

The other Titan in the group, AJ, laughed a little. "I resent that remark."

Kai chuckled a little, sending a sort of calming ripple across the Fireteam. "He's right, let's get to work." Pyrus nodded.

"Alright. Those plates look like the ones Kabr mentioned in his notes. Kai and Loran, take that right plate, Andrea and Sterling, take the left plate, AJ, you're with me. Alright, let's move out!"

After he gave the orders, he had his Ghost, Phi, pull his Ravensteel Speeder from orbit, and sped past Vex, even going out of his way to flatten a Hobgoblin, chuckling all the while. Hey? Who said driving couldn't be fun?

Kai's POV

 _He's so... What's the word... Authoritative. But he's still kind and calm. I wish I could tell him... But then I'd probably feel..._

 _Feel like what?_ Her Ghost, nicknamed Teth, spoke up.

 _Oh, Shut up Teth._ Came the snippy reply from the Guardian. _You always know how to spoil my day-dreaming_.

The Awoken Hunter clearly liked the leader of their Fireteam, and it seemed(ironically) that everyone but Pyrus himself realized that. Shaking herself back to the present, she caught sight of a Minotaur come out of those strange... Cloud things, she tossed a flux grenade, seeing the Arc devour the machine.

Crouching and examining the Vex unit, she called to Loran. "Hey, Loran? This Minotaur seems... Different."

The Titan obliged, though hesitantly, hearing the gunfire a little ways away, as the rest of their unit fought waves of Vex. "She's right, Pyrus?"

The Warlock's voice came a few minutes later, which worried Kai a little. "Sorry! This Minotaur just won't go down!"

A little boom came from the distance. "Thanks AJ. Alrightie, what is it?" After Loran told him, he 'hmmed' for a little.

"I remember Kabr speaking of it... I believe they're called Praetorians. And something about they only appear when their most important are threatened. Send a sample back to the Tower."

Loran nodded, and literally punched the thing's head off. Kai got up, chuckling at the Titan's use of force, and she saw another one of those 'Clouds' pop up.

About... maybe 20-30 Goblins popped out of it.

 _Heh, that's nothing._

The Bladedancer reached for the Arc, feeling her beloved knife respond to it, and she became a whirlwind, dashing to and fro from the opposing units, unmaking them.

Loran's POV

The Exo stood back, admiring his comrade's work. He always admired the power of Arc, but he preferred the Light of Void. Staring at a Ward always comforted him, the Void made him feel... At home.

In fact, he was so absorbed in watching the task he wasn't aware of the Minotaur that teleported behind him until his Ghost, dubbed Grey, practically shouted in his head _Guardian, Look Out_!

Leaping straight into the air, he felt his defense mechanisms kick in, ancient algorithms activating.

By far, he was the oldest member of the team, model more rusty than Cayde's old buddy Tevin. Sadly, any details about his past life were gone. Like all Guardians, he couldn't remember his First Life.

Instead of the Light coming to him, he felt his side open, and a strange, definitely ancient weapon came out of his side. Normally, these systems would be dormant, but he had never been in this sort of situation.

From his Resurrection, he was always a soldier, through and through. Avoiding dangerous situations, never dying. He was the Elite.

The weapon itself was almost skull shaped, with tons of purple crystals sticking out of it. Needless to say, the Minotaur was wiped from existence.

Touching back down, the Exo was... Intrigued, to say the least. _What in the Traveler's name?_

Kai noticed it too, walking up to the machine. "Loran, buddy. What was that?"

Just then, a beam of light shot from a Spire of rock and opened the Vault. "We can figure my programming out later."

The Hunter nodded reluctantly before both hopped on their Sparrows and went out to meet the rest of the team.

 **Author Notes**

 **Note, that this is mainly about Loran and Kai. The switching of the Point of Views will end once I've gotten a little of everyone in. Also, I'm thinking of skipping to the Oracles.**

 **Also, for all of those wondering, no Loran isn't his original name. And why a Needler? Well, you'll figure that out later.**

 **I need some Ghost names for everyone but Loran. Heh, Grey. How droll.**

 **Loran's 'mysterious' algorithms and programming will slowly be revealed as the delve into the Vault.**

 **And yes, someone will die soon. I mean, what's a raid story without one? XD**


	2. First Encounter, Last Breathe

Sterling's POV

The Hunter picked his way through the rock, finding some old caved in passages. Old. Probably centuries old. Finding a path wide enough to actually travel through, he stepping in it, planned only to be brief, seeing dozens of Vex corpses. Granted, they had moss covering them, so it was a while since they had died.

It looked intriguing, so his plan to be brief kind of left his mind _. Looks like Kabr's work. He always liked his Hard Light._ Came to the Gunslinger as he crouched down and yanked off a gauntlet, feeling the bullet holes. Going slightly farther in, his foot brushed aside a chunk of moss, tripping him.

He sighed, getting the tangle off him, but then freezing. There was a set of armor there... Badly damaged. Crouching once agin, he gently took off the helmet. Granted, there was nothing underneath but bone, but he nearly threw up.

It was Lilith. His old mentor, his friend. How did he know this? Well, Lilith had had a healing broken jaw at the time she left with the team, seeing it as no issue. The last time he had saw her was her climbing aboard her jump ship, promising that they would have a jolly good 'hunt', as she put it, when she got back.

She never did, obviously. Getting to his feet, he quickly left, walking toward Pyrus. "I found the remains of Lilith Kartovic, in that tunnel." He reported, voice not even cracking. Pyrus turned toward the Hunter, face grim behind the visor. "That was expected... Do you think that path continues?"

Sterling nodded. "Easily. There were remains of Vex, shot likely by Kabr." Pyrus nodded, relieved. "That should be enough to report. Get ready to..." Pyrus's voice faded, as he turned to the entrance of the Vault. There... Was some sort of singing.

Sterling saw a small ball of yellow light appear in the entrance, the song like liquid peace. At least- that's how Pyrus described it once this mission was over. Sterling personally wasn't affected, disliking music. But Andrea had a very different thought, slowly approaching the orb with a hand outstretched.

Andrea's POV ( a few minutes earlier)

The Voidwalker was inspecting the remains of the group of Minotaurs that lay dead near the entrance. She was absolutely ecstatic. "Pyrus, these machines must be at least a thousand years old!" The senior Warlock of the group jogged over and crouched down next to her. "Wh-?" The Voidwalker quickly shushed him, a habit she did when she was excited.

"I took the liberty of reading Kabr's journal, and he mentioned something. About the denizens of the Vault." The Human took a breathe. "He wrote about two main kinds, the Precorsors and the Descendants. Supposedly, they are older than the dawn of humanity."

 _Andrea, you're doing it again._ Wolfram piped up. _Shut it Wolf, I'm on a roll._ Andrea snapped back, still excited. "If we took pieces of these back to the Tower, we could finally crack how they could last so long, maybe even time travel!"

Pyrus shrugged. "Could work. Go ahead and... Hm? What is it Sterling?" He turned and got up, conversing with the Hunter that had emerged from a hole in the wall. She huffed, slightly miffed, but quickly started grabbing samples, the eyes, parts of the arm, etc.

Then she heard the music. Oracles. She slowly got up, shutting who eyes. The singing was faint, but still noticeable. Though... No one else seemed to notice. _Andrea..._ Wolfram warned, but it went unheeded.

A small ball of yellow light appeared next to the Vault entrance. Almost immediately, the singing intensified, blocking out almost anything. Her only thought: claim the source of this beautiful song. She reached out her hand, vaguely aware of her brother, AJ, shouting out a warning. Then everything went black.

AJ's POV (a few minutes earlier)

They are in. The legendary Vault of Glass. AJ snorted.

 _What's the matter?_ Kellar inquired. _This may sound like the stereotype Titan here, but this place ain't made of Glass. I call fooey on Kabr._ AJ responded, glancing at his icy camouflage colored Ghost.

Listening to Pyrus give out orders, he personally wasn't listening until his name came up.

"AJ and Kai, inspect the door." Nodding mutely as he trudged over to the gigantic doorway along with his fellow Awoken Guardian. "Kellar, scan the support columns for structural weaknesses and strengths." Copy that. Kellar vanished upward, hearing the scanning.

Seeing the rest of the team move a little farther in the Vault, he turned to the Hunter, who was sitting on the ground, toying with a Goblin arm. "Seriously, Kai." The Hunter looked up at him.

"When will you tell him?" He asked, zeroing in on her channel so no one else could hear. "You know him as well as I do. He's clueless." Something filtered through his link, something a both ancient Minotaurs. Whatever. Kai shrugged, not trusting herself to talk.

AJ sighed, going back to look at Pyrus. "There's nothing that seems..." He trailed off, hearing singing. It was sweet, but bitter at the same time, almost like a good sweet that had gone bad. His eyes flickered to his sister, Andrea, slowly walking toward a ball of light that had suddenly appeared there.

Instantly a foreboding entered his very soul, and he ran toward her, yelling her name. The second the Warlock's hand came in contact with the Oracle, she vanished in a bright fiery explosion.

 **Author's Notes**

 **Yep, like I promised. Our first death. I realize there wasn't devlopment for Andrea, but oh well.**

 **The switching of the POV's have ended, for now.**

 **If anyone asks why no Taken King subclasses are inside this, I'll say this: one of the remaining Guardians will gain a new class very soon.**

 **I realize I made up Lilith, but don't hate. They never said every single Guardian who entered the Vault.**


End file.
